


Who Are You?

by My_Trex_has_fleas



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, High School, M/M, Not Related, Snogging, Teenage boys are oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 04:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4691510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Trex_has_fleas/pseuds/My_Trex_has_fleas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fili likes Kili. Kili likes Fili. Now if they could only tell each other.</p><p>This is a fill for the Summer Fandom Raffle Exchange. No. 38 'I'd hoped you'd say that.'</p><p>It's also a belated birthday present for the lovely Rebel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Are You?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TalesInInkAndStars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalesInInkAndStars/gifts).



Kili plugged the jack into his laptop and set the playlist to play. Next to him, Tauriel was on her phone as usual. But the amount of giggling that was being done aroused his suspicions.

‘What the hell are you laughing at?’ he asked and she looked up, her slightly too large ears going pink.

‘Nothing.’ she said in a way that implied exactly the opposite.

‘Bollocks.’ he said and then turned back to the playlist. ‘So what do you think?’ Tory leaned over and Kili took the opportunity to sneak a look at her phone. When he saw what she was doing he grabbed it from her hand and stared at it.

‘There’s a new update?’ he asked, voice heading north in excitement. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ 

‘Because I wanted to be ahead of you for once.’ Tauriel grumbled. She watched as Kili took out his phone and went to the fanfiction website they both had bookmarked and avidly started reading. ‘You know, some people may say that you have an addiction.’

‘I don’t care.’ Kili replied, not lifting his eyes from the screen. ‘Do you know how good their stories are?’

‘Duh.’ Tory said. ‘I’m the one that showed you the fic, remember?’ She sat back in her chair, arms folded and looking disgruntled. ‘They were my obsession first.’

‘Well, now you just have to share.’ Kili was already grinning as he read. ‘Oh God this is fucking brilliant.’ Tauriel realised that she’d completely lost him and got up, shouldering her bag.

‘Well, I’m going to class.’ She announced. ‘Will we be graced with your presence?’

‘I have the next period free.’ Kili replied. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’ Tauriel snorted and left him to it.

*************

It wasn’t an addiction, Kili reasoned. It was just that he appreciated good writing. And LionPhoenix72 was not just a good writer, but an amazing one. The fics they wrote frequently made Kili laugh out loud, or sit on the edge of his seat, although the fact that a couple had made him cry was something that he would take to the grave.

He looked up when the music stopped and realised that the playlist had finished. It was permitted for students to use the sound system in the common room, and Kili was able to play his playlist for the group for people that liked to go and sit there during breaks between classes every Friday. He wasn’t too bad, if he did say so himself, and he even got requests and likes on his webpage for what he did.

The common room was pretty much empty now though, with only two other people in the corner and one at the lunch table, laptop open in front of him. Kili knew the guy but he didn’t have any classes with him. He got up and wandered over. As he approached the blond haired teenager looked up.

‘Hi Kili.’ he said in his distinctive Kiwi accent and gave him a friendly dimpled smile. Kili dropped into the seat opposite and returned the smile.

‘Hi Fili.’ he said and they both laughed. It had been a kind of running joke ever since Fili had come to the school from New Zealand after his parents had moved for work two years before and they’d been introduced by Tauriel, who’d had a massive crush on Fili for about five minutes and had stalked him around the school. They both got a kick out of the atrocious names they had been stuck with by their parents and the fact that they had somehow managed to independently come up with nicknames that made them sound like brothers.

They couldn’t, however, have looked any different. Fili looked like the surfer he was with his curly blond hair which he wore long and his friendship bracelets and his Animal t-shirts. Kili was about as close to being a Goth as he could get without being a Goth, which meant colouring his nails in with Sharpie and having nothing in his wardrobe that wasn’t black. He tucked a stray stand of dark brown hair out his eyes and flicked the back of Fili’s laptop. 

‘You doing homework?’ he asked. Fili shook his head, curls bouncing in a way that made Kili bite the inside of his mouth. He had never told anyone that the fearsomeness of Tauriel’s crush on Fili was nothing compared to the one Kili had on him. And unlike his inconstant best friend, Kili’s crush had never gone away.

‘Extra credit thing for the Duke of Edinburgh.’ he said and his blue eyes looked at Kili over the laptop. ‘You’re doing it too, right?’

‘Trying to.’ Kili said, and put his chin in his hand. ‘I am doing my last three hours of caving this weekend.’

‘You’re nuts.’ Fili laughed. “I can’t think of anything worse than running around underground in the dark like a mole.’

‘Yeah, well I can’t think of anything worse than sitting on a board for hours in the freezing cold sea water.’ Kili retorted and watched as Fili’s nose crinkled as he laughed, setting off a swarm of butterflies in his stomach. It was getting ridiculous. 

‘So that was a good mix you played today.’ Fili said and Kili dropped back down to earth, blushing at the compliment.

‘Thanks.’ he said. ‘I thought it was cool.’

‘It was.’ Fili sat back and closed his laptop. ‘You should be a DJ or something.’

‘I want to study music tech when I go to uni.’ Kili said, picking at his cuticle so he didn’t have to look at those bright blue eyes all the time. He was pretty sure that he was going to dvelop a heart condition from them. And Fili, being Antipodean, had a way of looking at people really intently. ‘You decided what you’re doing yet?’

‘Hydrography.’ Fili replied with no hesitation. ‘I’ve already got my applications in.’

‘God, you’re organised.’ Kili said. ‘I’m still all over the place.’

‘You’ll figure it out.’ Fili said, smiling. He looked at his watch and then picked up his backpack and put his laptop away. ‘I have to get to class. By the way, what were you and Tory arguing about?’

‘Fanfic.’ Kili said without thinking and then blushed again. ‘You probably think I’m a giant nerd for liking it.’

‘No.’ Fili said. ‘It’s cool. I don’t really read it though. What are you into?’

‘I probably shouldn’t answer that.’ Kili could feel his face burning now.

‘Come, on.’ Fili grinned. ‘I promise I won’t laugh. Or judge you.’

‘I mostly read the Captain America stuff.’ Kili said and when there was no laugh forthcoming he looked at Fili. ‘There’s this one writer whose stuff is just amazing though and I keep going back to it again and again.’

‘Yeah?’ Fili said. ‘That’s cool. Who are they?’ When Kili gave him a questioning look he shrugged. ‘I might give it a go.’

‘LionPheonix72.’ Kili said. ‘And yeah, if you want to read some they are amazing. But it’s pretty smutty though, so I don’t know if you’d want to read it.’

‘Why not?’ Fili frowned, and Kili swore it made him even cuter.

‘Cause guys getting it on with guys isn’t something you’d probably like.’ he said. Fili raised one golden eyebrow.

‘You don’t know that.’ he said and then the smile turned wicked, dimples deepening. ‘Guys getting it on with guys just happens to be my thing.’ He got up, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. ‘Maybe I’ll give it a go.’ He left and Kili watched him go, his jaw practically on the table top.

*********

For the next week Kili avoided Fili after that very interesting revelation. He continued to watch him surreptitiously though, and they occasionally locked eyes, making Kili blush and leave the common room as soon as possible. He had not told Tauriel about their talk either.

It wasn’t until Monday that she cornered him and waved her mobile in front of his face.

‘Something new has been happening.’ she declared. ‘Look.’ Kili took the phone. He noticed that a new fic had been posted.

‘Cool.’ He said, digging out his own phone. ‘I’ll read it now.’

‘No.’ Tauriel said. ‘Look at the title.’ She gave him the phone and Kili read it.

‘It’s song title.’ he said. ‘So?’

‘LionPhoenix has never written songfics before.’ Tauriel said. ‘And the story itself is very interesting. It’s a high school AU.’

‘Really?’ Kili frowned. ‘Still Cap and Bucky though, right?’

‘Yeah, obviously.’ Tauriel snorted. ‘But it almost feels like the story is secondary, like there’s a message in it.’

‘I think you’re probably overthinking things again.’ Kili said. Tauriel snorted, pulled his ponytail for emphasis and rushed off again. Kili opened the link and started reading the story. ‘It was really good, completely different to the other stuff. Bucky was a shy boy who loved art and music and hung around on the fringes with his best friend Natasha. Cap was a new boy in school and he was trying to fit in but it was very hard. He had spotted Bucky and was trying to flirt with him, very unsuccessfully though. It was cute and funny and it made Kili smile.

‘Well you look happy.’ A voice said and Kili looked up into a pair of bright eyes. He lost all train of thought. Today, Fili’s t-shirt was emerald green and it made his eyes look like sea water.

‘Hi.’ he blurted out, and Fili smiled.

‘Hi back.’ he said. ‘You’ve been kind of not saying it this week. I’m sorry if I weirded you out. I get that some people are freaked out by gay people and I probably shouldn’t have shouted my mouth off about it, but…’ He shifted and Kili suddenly realised that he was nervous.

‘Oh God, no it wasn’t that.’ he said. ‘I have no problem if you’re….’

‘Gay.’ Fili said, his eyes narrowing a little. ‘You can say it you know.’

‘I know.’ Kili said defensively. He cast a glance around the mostly empty common room and lowered his voice. ‘I am too.’ There was a twitch at the corner of Fili’s mouth.

‘So we’re cool?’ he asked. Kili nodded.

‘Very cool.’ he replied.

‘So I read that fic you told me about.’ Fili said. ‘It was pretty hot stuff.’

‘I warned you.’ Kili grinned. ‘But actually it’s weird because the person who wrote it has posted something completely different today.’

‘Yeah?’ Fili said. ‘Is it any good?’

‘Actually it’s amazing.’ Kili said. ‘I don’t normally like high school au but this is looking brilliant from what I’ve read so far. And it’s a songfic.’

‘Yeah, which song?’ Fili asked. 

‘It’s an Imagine Dragons one called It’s Time.’ Kili said. ‘I actually love it.’

‘I know it.’ Fili said and then frowned. ‘Wasn’t it on your play list last week?’

‘Yeah, actually it was.’ Kili said. ‘Cool.’

‘Obviously LionPhoenix72 and you have the same taste in music.’ Fili grinned and shouldered his backpack. ‘I have to go, but let me know if it’s worth reading.’

‘Will do.’ Kili said. He watched Fili walk away and then started reading in earnest.

***********

Two days later there was an update on the fic. It was another song title. Tauriel was beside herself. 

‘It was on your playlist.’ she hissed. Kili shrugged, completely nonplussed.

‘So?’ he said. ‘I listen to loads of music and I play loads of music.’

‘So the person who writes this has suddenly changed to high school au. And the first fic was one of your favourite songs. And so many things in the story are things that are taken from our lives.’

‘I think you are seeing things you want to see.’ Kili said.

‘Oh really?’ Tory put her hands on her hips and her most annoying expression on her face. ‘So you think it’s coincidence that the fic talks about a shy dark haired guy with a brilliant and feisty red-haired best friend who has a crush on a blond who is new to the school?’ Kili laughed.

‘What?’ he giggled. ‘You think it’s about us? That is insane, it’s like the most basic storyline in the universe.’

‘So you don’t think it has anything to do with the massive crush you’ve had on Fili for like the past two years?’ Tory asked and Kili’s smile fell right off his face.

‘How do you know that?’ he hissed and she smiled triumphantly.

‘I keep my eyes open.’ she said. 

A few more days passed and another update appeared. It involved a very amusing situation in which Cap was desperately trying to ask Bucky to go out with him on a date, but every time he managed to get up the courage to speak to him, Cap couldn’t do it and just ran off. There was also another song title. And Kili knew that it was on his playlist.

‘Irresistible by Fall Out Boy.’ Tauriel said. ‘This person is keeping track of what you play.’

‘Coincidence.’ Kili asserted. ‘And the rest of it is bollocks, because Fili hasn’t tried to ask me out.’ He chanced a look over at where Fili was sitting doing his homework on his laptop as usual, completely oblivious to everything around him.

‘Then why is he always hanging around to talk to you when we’ve all buggered off to class?’ Tauriel said.

‘He doesn’t.’ Kili replied and she raised an eyebrow at him.

‘Watch.’ she said. ‘I bet you if you play something today, it will show up in an update next Monday. That’s the pattern. Just like Fili coming over to talk to you.’

‘You have too much time on your hands.’ Kili said and smiled as she flounced off in a huff. But sure enough, once the common room started to clear out, Fili came over. 

‘How’s the Edinburgh going?’ he asked and Kili shrugged.

‘Done all my physical stuff, but I need to find a partner for the orientation weekend next weekend.’ he said. ‘And I have never been orienteering in my life. I am going to get so lost.’

‘Yeah?’ Fili said. ‘Me too. It’s kind of hard trying to ask someone though. I’d feel kind of bad if someone misses out because I have no idea how to drive a compass.’ He gave a small laugh, quite unlike his normal confident self.

‘Well, you could always ask me.’ Kili said and then kicked himself mentally for how that sounded. ‘I mean, if you can’t find anyone.’

‘Actually, I’d hoped you’d say that.’ Fili said with a smile. ‘I feel like maybe we might work kind of well as a team.’

‘Really?’ Kili was stumped. ‘Why?’

‘Well, we’ve just established that we’ll both have no idea what we’re doing. What’s the worst that could happen?’ Fili said. ‘So, partners?’ Kili’s brain took a few moments to catch up.

‘Sure.’ he said. ‘That sounds cool.’

‘Cool.’ Fili nodded. ‘Okay then, I have to go to class.’ He raised his hand and walked away and Kili frowned.

‘Okaaay.’ he said to himself. ‘It’s nothing to be excited about. It’s just orienteering.’

********

‘JUST ORIENTEERING!!!!!’ Tauriel screeched on Monday and Kili was tempted to put his fingers in his ears. ‘He was asking you to be his partner and you think it’s just about orienteering? You are an idiot.’

‘I am not an idiot.’ Kili protested. ‘That’s all it was.’

‘And what about this?’ Tauriel showed him the update on her phone. Sure enough it was a song from his playlist. The update that it was attached to had also been interesting. It was about Cap making plans to accidentally run into Bucky at the Fourth of July picnic.

‘Okay firstly, it’s not a picnic. Secondly we’re not meeting accidentally, we’re going there together.’ Kili spelt out the last word. ‘See, this is all coincidence.’

‘Poetic licence.’ Tauriel said, completely unconvinced. ‘They’re outdoors, you will be outdoors.’

‘So if all of this is true.’ Kili raised a hand and scratched his eyebrow, ‘Then who the fuck is writing it?’ 

‘Someone from school obviously.’ Tauriel said. ‘It might even be him.’

‘I don’t think so.’ Kili said. ‘I don’t think he’s the type.’ Tauriel huffed in exasperation and threw up her hands.

‘Fine, whatever.’ she replied. ‘But I’m going to make it my mission in life to find out.’

‘And Lord help us all.’ Kili deadpanned and got a dead arm for his trouble.

Later that week he and Fili made plans to meet up at the orienteering on the Saturday.

‘You have all the kit?’ Fili was scrutinising a piece of paper. Kili was sitting opposite him at the table.

‘Yup.’ he said. ‘And my mom is going to drop me off at seven.’

‘Okay.’ Fili folded the paper and shoved it in his front pocket. ‘So, was this the only reason to come over and talk to me today?’ His blue eyes were fixed on Kili. 

‘Yeah.’ Kili said, a little confused. ‘Why else would I?’

‘Oh, no reason.’ Fili got up and grinned. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Kili.’ He walked off and Kili turned to look at Tauriel, who had deliberately skipped class to witness what she was calling ‘The FanFic Conspiracy’. She looked back at him, sighed sadly and then mimed shooting herself in the head.

***************

Saturday was grey and ominous looking.

‘Bloody hell.’ Kili was gloomy. ‘We’re probably going to get rained on.’ He looked at Fili and then back at himself. While he’d managed to get every bit of gear he needed in black, Fili looked like the picture in the dictionary under the word cheerful. His shirt was red plaid, his jeans dark blue and his rain jacket the most obnoxiously bright shade of yellow Kili could imagine. He looked like the result if someone had taken a ball of sunshine and made it into a person. Kili was mildly horrified that he was possibly in love with such a person.

‘I don’t think it will be too bad.’ Fili said, holding out one hand, palm up. ‘And a little rain is no problem. We have buckets of the stuff on the North Island.’ 

‘Well, I don’t really fancy walking in it.’ Kili grumbled. He folded his arms and pouted at the inclement weather. Fili laughed at him, and bumped him with his elbow.

‘Come on. They’re starting.’ He said. Kili huffed and followed him over to the instructors, who were handing out the route directions. 

The route that had been mapped out ran over ten miles and they started out, Fili in front with the compass and Kili following behind him, head down and watching his feet most of the time as he had a tendency to trip over them. 

The first hour was fairly standard and they made their three markers and collected their tags from the three monitors, who all smiled and gave them words of encouragement, and in one case, custard creams. The weather was thankfully holding and for the first time that morning, Kili pushed back his hood and looked out over the valley that led down to the beach.

They were cresting a hill and that was when they felt the first drops of rain. 

‘Oh, bloody hell.’ Kili squinted up at the sky. ‘That’s all we need.’ He shaded his eyes and huffed. When he looked back down again he was a little startled to see Fili right in front of him. ‘Oh, hello.’

‘You.’ Fili said and his voice was a mixture of exasperation and adoration. ‘I can’t believe you.’

‘What?’ Kili wanted to take a step back but up close he could see tiny flecks of gold around Fili’s pupils and they were gorgeous. He was mesmerised.

‘You are so bloody adorable.’ Fili said. ‘I really can’t take it anymore. I thought by now, you would have clicked that it was me writing the fanfic. But when that didn’t work, I tried talking to you every day and you’re really sweet but you’ve kind of been missing what I’ve been saying to you.’

‘Hang on.’ Kili said, his brain finally processing what Fili had just said. ‘You wrote the fic?”

‘Yeah, I thought it was really obvious and that you’d pick up on it really quickly. It was like the most amazing coincidence when you told me you liked my stuff and then I thought it was the perfect way to tell you I like you but then you didn’t say anything so I just kept going.’ Fili shrugged. ‘Especially with making Tauriel into Natasha.’

‘And the songs?’ Kili asked.

‘Well, you play them all the time. It was kind of a long shot, but I figured all the pieces would fall into place.’ Fili sighed. ‘Guess I was being too meta, huh?’ 

‘And this whole orienteering partner malarky?’ Kili was wide eyed now. He honestly was having trouble processing the whole ‘I like you’ thing. Fili gave him a sheepish smile.

‘That was me trying to ask you out without actually asking you out.’ he confessed with a shy smile. He laughed at the look of surprise on Kili’s face. ‘I am really crap at this aren’t I?’ Kili stared at him, and then he completely surprised himself and Fili. 

He threw caution to the wind, stepped forward and went to kiss Fili square on the mouth. However, he hadn’t counted on his usual clumsiness, an unfortunate side effect of being long-limbed and gangly as a Great Dane puppy. He tripped, fell and landed in Fili’s waiting arms. He looked up into Fili’s blue eyes and sighed.

‘Bugger.’ he said. Fili laughed and straightened him up.

‘Can I take it that you are okay with the idea of me liking you, then?’ he asked and Kili nodded frantically.

‘So long as you are okay with the idea of me liking you.’ he countered and Fili smiled broadly.

‘Hell, yeah.’ he said. He reached out and took one of Kili’s hands, and Kili jumped like he’d been given an electric shock. ‘Now, you want to try that again?’ Kili nodded, not trusting himself to say anything and Fili stepped close, then lifted one had to Kili’s jaw and leaned in and their mouths met. It was soft and gentle and warm, and Kili wasn’t sure whether to close his eyes or leave them open, but then Fili tilted his head and Kili’s eyes just closed by themselves and a steady lurch set up in his stomach. He copied Fili’s movements and then it was like someone had set light to him. He kissed Fili back and it felt like it could go on forever and it was the best and…

‘OI! NO SNOGGING ON THE COURSE!’ a voice shouted and they broke apart, faces flaming as they saw a very unimpressed looking instructor bearing down on them.

‘Come on.’ Fili said, tugging on Kili’s hand. ‘Let’s go before we get bollocked properly.’ 

They set off down the slope.


End file.
